This has now appeared a couple places on the boards so I might as well make a thread for it.

Racing will take a major turn for me next season and I ride on as many questionable surfaces as I do smooth surfaces. For those reasons, and a host of others, I decided it was time to bid farewell to the Wilier and get something to beat on. The new Allez has interested me since it was first announced and I was able to find one at a local shop.

I'll probably get the bike down just above 15 lb and call it good. I'm pretty pleased with that weight given it's a no-nonsense build that I can do a 100+ miles on without issue. I could swap back to my 90g Toupe, Praxis rings, and Planet X brakes for 260g savings but this all works SO WELL!

Schedule is pretty hectic at the moment so haven't had a change for better photos yet. Should have some in the coming weeks!

I'm sure it will. The handling is very sharp... but in the ~200 miles I've put on it so far, when "marching" up steep grades, this thing feels like a trampoline compared to the Wilier I've been riding.

I felt quite a bit of deflection on my first couple of rides with climbing. I will be sure to share my opinion once I've spent some time on other wheels/wheels though. I was running my H+ Sons with 90psi on 25mm tires so that may have been the culprit.

Looks great man! I am in a similar position for next year, my team will be Specialized and I'm looking at one of these as a crit bike. How tall are you/inseam,I think I am right between a 54 and 56 and I was wondering if you could list some of your measurements, saddle height, reach, etc. I know fit is subjective and different for everyone, but it might help me make a decision. Thanks.

Saddle height 75cmStack 55cm (I may have it a little lower right now as I'm toying with things) Reach is currently 56cm with the SMP11cm drop to hoods

I opted for 54 instead of 56 because the latter has way more headtube that I'd like. I've also grown to really like a longer stem and the Allez/SL4 have a longer TT which would put me on a 100mm stem on the 56cm frame.

On another note; do many people actually have a dedicated crit bike in addition to another race bike? You hear it tossed around a lot but personally, I want to be intimately familiar with a bike I'm pushing hard so I know how it reacts. That means riding it A LOT!

Thanks for the measurements and info on the frame size. I think we are almost the exact same size, and as I was leaning toward the 54 anyway, this settles it! And realistically mine will become my full on, everyday, training, race, ride hard and not think twice about it bike, but calling it a crit. bike makes it that much easier to justify buying another bike, which isn't hard to do. Did you just paint those chainrings black? It looks nice. Any further repost on the stiffness of the bike with different wheels?

I did paint the chainrings. This is the second set actually. With some careful tape work it actually holds up pretty well. I have at least 500-600 miles on my other rings, including one outside chain drop, and they still look great.

I'm getting along better with the bike all the time. Unfortunately, I've been traveling a lot this past week so I haven't really flogged the wheels yet. However, I'll say the sensations so far are definitely improved. This thing definitely isn't a 13.5 lb Italian thoroughbred, but it gets the job done. I should have some good feedback after a team camp this weekend

I did paint the chainrings. This is the second set actually. With some careful tape work it actually holds up pretty well. I have at least 500-600 miles on my other rings, including one outside chain drop, and they still look great.

Could you share what type of paint you used. Was it just regular spray paint in a can? I want to do something similar to a set I have, just not sure if I want to paint or powder coat them.

_________________"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

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